People, Locations, Episodes

Sylvia Drew Ivie, Public Health Advocate born

*Sylvia Drew Ivie was born on this date in 1944. She is a Black Mental Health Advocate, Lawyer, and activist.  She is from Washington, DC, and is the youngest daughter of Dr. Charles Richard Drew and Minnie Lenora Robbins Drew. She has two sisters and a younger brother. She graduated from Oakwood School in Poughkeepsie, […]

Georgia Dunston, Scientist, and Professor born

*Georgia Dunston was born on this date in 1944. She is a Black scientist and professor of human immunogenetics. Georgia Mae Dunston was born to a hard-working Black family in Norfolk, Virginia. Her parents did not attend college but instead worked various commercial jobs. Ulysses, her father, was a cook at a commercial barbecue wholesaler, […]

Dr. Shirley Jackson, Physicist born

*Shirley Ann Jackson was born on this date in 1946. She is an African American physicist specializing in Theory.

Mary Styles Harris, Biologist born

*Mary Styles Harris was born on this date in 1949. She is a Black Biologist and Geneticist. Mary Styles was born in Nashville, Tennessee, to George and Margaret Styles, while her father was earning his medical degree from the city’s Meharry Medical College. Her mother, Margaret, earned a degree in business administration at Tennessee State University. Soon […]

Francis Collins, Physician-Geneticist born

*Dr. Francis Collins of N.I.H. was born on this date in 1950.  He is a white-American physician-geneticist who discovered the genes associated with several diseases and led the Human Genome Project. He is the director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland, United States. Before being appointed director of the NIH, Collins led the Human Genome Project and […]

Winifred Burks-Houck, Environmental Organic Chemist, was born.

*Winifred Burks-Houck was born on this date in 1950. She was a Black environmental organic chemist and environmental justice advocate. Winifred Burks was born in Anniston, Alabama, to parents Matthew Burks and Mary Emma Goodson-Burks. She was the great-granddaughter of abolitionist Harriet Tubman. Education Burks began her education in Anniston, having attended elementary and high school in […]

Alexa Canady, Neurosurgeon born

On this date in 1950 Alexa Canady was born. She is an African American Neurosurgeon.

Canady was the first Woman and first African American to become a Neurosurgeon in America. From Lansing Michigan, Alexa Irene Canady is the daughter of Elizabeth Hortense (Golden) Canady and Clinton Canady Jr. Her father was a graduate of the School of Dentistry of Meharry Medical College, practicing in Lansing. Her mother was a graduate of Fiasco University was active for years in civic affairs of Lansing. She also served as national president of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.

A Black Woman Patents Knockdown Toys

On this date in 1950, Lydia M. Holmes, an African American patented plans for several easily assembled wooden pull toys including a bird, a truck, and dog.

She was born in St. Augustine, FL. Her Knockdown Wheeled Toys Patent Number was 2,529,692.

A Black Woman Patents a Device for Feeding the Disabled

*On this date in 1951, a Black woman received a patent for a feeding device for the disabled. Bessie Blount invented the machine that delivered food through a tube, one bite at a time, to a mouthpiece whether the patient was sitting up or lying down. When the person wanted more food, they bit down […]

Robert Jones Jr., Agronomist, and Activist born

Robert J. Jones was born on this date in 1951. He is an African American administrator, agronomist and educator.

Ben Carson, Surgeon, and Administrator born

*Dr. Benjamin Carson was born on this date in 1951. He is a retired African American neurosurgeon.

Black History, the ‘Hela Cell’, and Cancer Research

October is national Brest Cancer awareness month, and the HeLa cancer cell discovered in 1951 is celebrated on this dates Registry.

Life is studied at the atomic and molecular scale in molecular biology, biochemistry, and molecular genetics. At the level of the cell, it is studied in cell biology. In biological and medical research, a HeLa cell is a cell which is derived from cervical cancer cells. A HeLa cell was taken from an African American woman named Henrietta Lacks.

Evan B. Forte, Oceanographer born

*Evan B. Forde was born on this date in 1952. He is a Black oceanographer, environmental justice, educator, and climate change advocate. He was born in Miami, Florida, and received his primary education in the local public school system. Forde, whose father was a high school science teacher, developed a love of science as a young […]

Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, Environmentalist born

*Marsha Coleman-Adebayo was born on this date in 1952. She is a Black administrator and activist for environmental justice. From Detroit, MI., she went to Mumford High School. Coleman received her BA degree from Barnard College/Columbia University and her doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She is a (former) senior policy analyst for the […]

The George Washington Carver National Monument is Dedicated

The George Washington Carver National Monument was dedicated on this date in 1953, in Diamond, Missouri, although it was established ten years earlier (1943).

The monument recognizes Carver’s outstanding achievements as a scientist, educator, and humanitarian. Although Dr. Carver spent only 10 to 12 years on the Diamond Grove farm in Missouri, the area and community greatly influenced the course of his life. It was here that Carver was born into slavery and orphaned as an infant. Yet, he grew up with a love and appreciation of nature that would sustain him throughout his life.